Notifying A User Of An Available Media Object

ABSTRACT

Among other features, notification is presented on a mobile device to a user to advise the user of the availability of a media object that (a) has been received from a server and stored on the mobile device without the user having been aware of the receipt or storage, or (b) has newly become available for streaming from the server to the mobile device.

This application is a continuation and claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/609,515, filed Oct. 30,2009, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application61/111,502, filed Nov. 5, 2008, the entire contents of all of which areincorporated here by reference.

This description relates to notifying a user of an available mediaobject.

BACKGROUND

A media object (such as a song, image, video, or other multimediaobject), stored on a server and optimized for later playing on a mobiledevice can be delivered to the mobile device proactively or reactively.In proactive delivery, the media object is delivered to and stored onthe mobile device ahead of when the user attempts to access it. Inreactive delivery, the media object is held on the server until it isrequested by user, and then streamed to the mobile device and playedimmediately.

SUMMARY

In general, in an aspect, at a mobile device, (a) a media object to beplayed to a user of a mobile device is received from a server and storedon the mobile device, without requiring a user of the mobile device tobe aware of the receipt or storage, or (b) an alert that a media objecthas become available for streaming delivery to and playing to the userat the mobile device is received at the mobile device, or both (a) and(b). A notification is presented on the mobile device to the userindicating that the media object is available to be played.

Implementations may include one or more of the following features. Thenotification is presented modally. The notification is displayed. Thenotification includes vibrating the mobile device or playing a sound.The notification includes interactive controls that can be invoked bythe user. The notification includes information that describes the mediaobject. The user can preselect a form of the notification to bepresented. The user selects a feature of the notification to bepresented. The user is enabled to select types of the media object forwhich the notification is to be presented. The notification indicatesthat the media object is not to be played until a time later than whenit is first available. The notification indicates that the media objectis not to be played after an expiration time. The notificationincorporates other notifications related to other media objects at thesame time. The receiving of the media object at the mobile device occursautomatically without an action by the user. The user can select from adisplayed list of available media objects a media object to be played.The notification includes presenting advertising to the user.

In general, in an aspect, notification is presented on a mobile deviceto a user to advise the user of the availability of a media object that(a) has been received from a server and stored on the mobile devicewithout the user having been aware of the receipt or storage, or (b) hasnewly become available for streaming from the server to the mobiledevice.

These and other features and aspects, and combinations may also beexpressed as methods, business methods, apparatus, systems, programproducts, databases, means for performing functions, and in other ways.

Other advantages and features will become apparent from the followingdescription and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 and 2 are block diagrams.

FIGS. 1A, 1B, 4, 5, and 6 are screen shots.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram.

Referring to FIG. 1, a mobile device 10 can be arranged to present anotification 12 to a user when a media object 14 is available to beplayed. The media object may have become available for playing on themobile device because a server 16 where it is stored has sent anavailability alert 15 to tell the mobile device that the object isavailable to be streamed to the mobile device for playing reactivelywhenever the user asks for the media object. Or the media object mayhave become available for playing on the mobile device by having beenproactively delivered 13 to the mobile device and stored there until theuser wants the media object to be played. Other delivery techniquescould also be used.

In our use of the term mobile device, we include (without limitation)personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, notebook computers,and any other device that is portable and can communicate through anavailable (typically wireless) communication channel. In our use of theterm media object, we include (without limitation) music, images,videos, cartoons, advertisements, text documents, other multimediaobjects, and any other object that can be presented to, played for, orperformed for a user of the device using audio, video, display, or othertechnologies. In our use of the term play and the term present, weinclude (without limitation) performing, playing audibly or visually orboth, displaying, or in any way presenting to a user's senses.

The notification 12 can be presented by the mobile device 10 in a widevariety of ways, and at a wide variety of times. For example, thenotification can be presented audibly or visually or both, through adisplay screen 24, speakers, earphones, vibration, or any combination ofthem. The notification can be generated at the mobile device forpresentation to the user based on information 17 about the media objectthat is provided from the server 16 (for example, as part of or relatedto the availability alert) or from other sources. The notification canbe generated at the server, delivered to the mobile device, and used bythe mobile device as is (or with modification) in the presentation ofthe notification to the user. The notification can be presented to theuser in any form and through any presentation medium, for example, byemail or a text message, on screen, embedded in other objects beingpresented, or in other ways.

The notification 12 can be presented at a variety of times, and morethan one time, either alone or in combination with other notificationsrelated to other media objects. The notification can be presentedimmediately or promptly when the availability alert is received or whenthe object is proactively delivered to the mobile device. Promptpresentation is especially useful for a time-sensitive media object 14such as a breaking news program or a financial market update. In somecases, the notifications can be delayed and presented at later times,either at regular times specified by the user, or at times determined bythe system. Notifications can be delayed until several notifications areready for presentation. The availability alert or the proactivelydelivered object can contain or be accompanied by information about whenthe notification is to be presented, which may be at a later time. Themobile device could respect such information or ignore it or somecombination of the two.

In some embodiments, the media objects 14 are locked by encryptionand/or subjected to digital rights management (DRM) control prior todelivery to the mobile device. The DRM control can include notpermitting the media object 14 to be played until after a certain amountof time has passed or beginning at a specific time. The availabilityalert or the object information or the object itself can containinformation about the time when the object is allowed to be played. DRMcontrol can include setting a time after which playing of the object isno longer permitted. A notification can be generated when the expirationtime is approaching or imminent. DRM control can also be used to controlthe circumstances under which (or conditions required before) a mediaobject can be presented. The notification can alert the user about suchcircumstances or conditions.

Among the advantages of the presentation of notifications is that,especially in the case of proactive delivery, the delivery can beaccomplished in the background, without bothering the user, and the userwill anticipate having the notification presented once the full mediaobject has arrived. Also, suppliers of media objects can control thetimes and conditions under which the media is allowed to be played.

The presentation of the notification 12 can be modal, requiring the userto click through the notification before being allowed to use any otherfunction of the mobile device, e.g., to play a media object. If morethan one media object 14 is available at a given time or another mediaobject becomes available when a notification 12 is already beingpresented, the notifications can be stacked up to allow or require theuser to click through the stacked notifications before invoking anyother functions.

In some examples, presentation of a new notification could cause an oldone being to disappear, so that there is only one notification beingpresented at any given time. In some embodiments, the presentednotification 12 automatically disappears from the screen 24, forexample, after a certain amount of time.

Among other advantages, the modal presentation can increase the chancesthat the user will review a notification including any advertisement orother promotional material that is part of the notification. The forcedreview may also increase the chances that the user will ask forpresentation of the media object which may also contain advertising.This increased chance of review of the notification or presentation ofthe media object in turn may increase the willingness of advertisers tobuy advertising and or the price that an advertiser will pay.

The notification 12 can take various forms. For example, thenotification 12 can be visual, e.g., an icon on the screen 24, or avisible change to an existing and standard icon (e.g., as shown in FIG.1A, a change from a default application icon 23 to another version ofthe icon 25), an LED light that flashes (or remains on), a text message,or graphics, e.g., a logo corresponding to the new media, vibration ofthe device, or many others. The notification 12 can be audible andcontain an audio, e.g., a chirp or other sound selectable by the user.

A wide variety and amount of information can be presented in thenotification 12. The information can include information about the mediaobject 14, e.g., the name, title, duration, source, time ofavailability, cost, advertising, and thumbnail images. The notification12 can also a wide variety of buttons, links, and other devices thatenable the user to take an action with respect to the notification. Oneaction would be to ask for the presentation of the media object to beginimmediately. Another could be to ask for the notification to bepresented at a future time or times, or to never to be presented again.The user could be asked to confirm payment for the presentation of themedia object.

In some implementations, the user can select types or sizes, or media ofmedia objects, (e.g., news, sports, finance, and others; videos but notaudio items; large files but not small ones), for which he/she wouldlike to receive a notification. The user can also select the form,timing, and features of the notification 12. For example, the user cantoggle the audible feature on or off, specify which sound (and at whatvolume) to associate with the notification. In some embodiments, thesound can be suppressed when the mobile device is configured in“vibrate” or “silent” mode.

In the example shown in FIG. 1B, a modal notification 12 about sportsnews includes a title 88 that identifies an overall source and categoryof the media object associated with the notification 12, a textdescription 90 of the media object, and a logo 92 associated with thedistributor or source of the news. The notification 12 also includes atext message 94 indicating that the sports news is new (for example, notpreviously available to this user on this device) and another textmessage 96 reminding the user of the number of un-played available mediaobjects. The user can dismiss the notification 100 by clicking thedismiss button or request playing of the sports news by clicking on theplay button.

Each media object 14 can be episodic, e.g., with new editions publishedat regular intervals, or be part of a sequence, e.g., a movie, or can bea stand alone item. A media object 14 may be time sensitive and requireimmediate playing (e.g., a stock ticker update). Other media objects maybe relatively time insensitive, and a delay of hours in delivery andpresentation can be acceptable (e.g., a movie trailer). The delivery ofthe media objects 14 is facilitated by one or more network interfaces 20(FIG. 1) of the mobile device 10, e.g., GPRS/EDGE, CDMA/EVDO, WiFi,Bluetooth, or a USB cable tethered to a host computer. Each of thenetwork interfaces can take the advantage of a network resource forconnecting to a communication network 18 (e.g., the Internet or othercommunication network). This connection may be the last hop for themedia object to traverse in its travel from the server 16 to the mobiledevice 10. The availability of network resources may vary from time totime as, for example, the mobile device moves in and out of networkhotspots. For example, at one moment, WiFi and EDGE may be available; afew minutes later, only EDGE may be available.

The mobile device includes a media object application 22 that provides awide variety of functions including communication with the server withrespect to media objects, receipt of media objects in proactive orreactive modes, receipt and processing of availability alerts and objectinformation from the server, assembly, generation, and presentation ofnotifications, interaction with the user in connection with presentednotifications, reporting to the server which notifications have beenpresented, when, and with what result, management of user preferencesregarding notifications, playing of media objects, management of DRMcontrols and decryption, tracking of the intended timing and frequencyof presentation of notifications, and others.

The proactively delivered media objects 14 can be stored on a storagedevice 19 (e.g., a flash memory or magnetic disk drive) of the device aslocally-stored media objects. The storage of a copy of a media object 14on both the server 16 and the mobile device can be sync'ed.

In some implementations, proactive delivery of a media object that is tobe locally stored happens automatically without user action, forexample, without the user needed to press a key or attach a cable. Theautomatic proactive delivery can take place when the mobile device 10 ison, regardless of its state: plugged in and charging, engaged in otheractivities (e.g., a phone call), or in a power-save mode when the screen24 is blank.

As shown in FIG. 2, the media object application 28 on the mobile device30 communicates with a core environment running on the server 36 toreceive each media object 32 (either by streaming or bulk downloadingand storage on the mobile device) from a media asset repository 34(which may or may not be located at the same place as the server) forplaying by a user 26. The core server environment 36 performs a widevariety of functions in connection with distributing the media objectsand information for use in the presentation of notifications. Thesefunctions can include managing registration and subscription informationfor individual users as obtained through the web portal and a webbrowser on user computers, accumulating and providing availabilityalerts to the mobile device, accumulating and providing otherinformation about media objects to the mobile device (including timing,restrictions, descriptions, and summaries), interacting with the mobiledevice and the user of the mobile device, managing DRM control of theuse of media objects, and others.

Software components of the core server environment for performing theseand other functions may include a web portal 38, a sync module 40, and adatabase 42. The media asset repository 34 includes an object system 46storing the media objects 32 for subsequent delivery to the mobiledevice 30, and an application 44 managing the delivery of those objects32 over, e.g., an IP network to the mobile device. An example of theapplication 44 is an Apache HTTP server as described on the Apachewebsite at **http://httpd.apache.org/**. The application 28 can beinstalled by the mobile device manufacturer (OEM) before the mobiledevice 30 is sold to the user 26, or by the user 26 after acquiring thedevice by, for example, downloading the application 28 through theInternet from the core server environment.

The application 28 is configured to automatically implement one or moreof the following sequential applications (or a wide variety of othersequences):

1) Wait for a signal to indicate that sync'ing should occur. The signalmay come from the mobile device 30, from the server 36, or from the user26.

2) Select an available IP channel (GPRS, WiFi, HSDPA, USB port) for thesync'ing.

3) Connect to the sync module 40 on the server 36 and transmit a query48 that conforms to a defined communication protocol and asks for newlyavailable media objects. The query may be to ask the server forinformation about newly available media items. In response to the query,the sync module may look in the database to identify newly availablemedia objects. For instance, the sync module may search for newlyavailable episodes for a user who has subscribed to Baseball Tonight.

4) Receive new media objects 50 from the media asset repository 34 andtreat any locally stored version of the media object as expired.

5) Optionally, report (in conformity with the sync'ing protocol) thedelivery event and the usage of the media object back to the server 36.

The application 28 can perform the steps 1)-5) automatically without theneed for the user's awareness of the steps being performed or the usersaction to intervene, activate, or adjust the performance of the steps.Newly available media objects can be delivered proactively hourly,daily, or weekly to the mobile device 30 (e.g., in the background)without the requirement for any user action. The media objects 46 in themedia asset repository can also be made reactively available to the user26. The user can be notified when the proactive delivery is completed orthe reactive delivery is available as described in FIG. 1 and takefurther actions based on the notification, for example, reviewing themedia objects delivered or to be delivered, selecting media objects ofinterest, or playing the selected media objects.

The user can access the locally stored media objects manually. In someexamples, an easy manual access is provided by a file system on themobile device 30 that stores the proactively delivered media objects 32.For example, when the mobile device 30 is a Windows Mobile device, thefiles can be stored in the “My Documents” folder. A notified user canaccess the stored media objects by, for example, use of existing toolson the mobile device (e.g., a “File Manager” application on a WindowsMobile device).

In some embodiments, whether or not notifications have been presented,the user can access the locally stored media object using theapplication 28 as shown in FIG. 3. The application 60 provides thenotified user 26 a list 62 of the locally-stored media objects and/or alist 72 of the remotely-stored media objects and allows the user toaccess the listed media objects easily, for example, by a simple click.The user-friendly access may be useful, for example, when a file systemdescribed above is not available (e.g., on a Java-based mobile device)or the manual access to the file system is non-intuitive.

The list 62 contains information, such as legal information 74 (e.g.,copyrights that apply to the media objects), or other information 76(e.g., content) about the available proactively delivered media objects.In the example shown in FIG. 4, the list 62 displayed includes, for eachmedia object, an icon 68 indicating a feature, e.g., the media object isvisual as indicated by a visual icon 64 or the media object is audibleas indicated by an audio icon 66, of the media object 70. The content ofthe media objects 70 can also be identified in text .The duration ofeach media object 70 may also be displayed.

Referring again to FIG. 3, the user can also obtain a detailed view 78of a particular media object listed on the list 62 when detailedinformation is requested by, for example, identifying the media objectof interest. The pending list 72 of the application 60 provides to theuser a view of the media objects that are scheduled for delivery and/orin transit but not yet fully downloaded. The list 72 can have a similarview or content to that of the list 62 exemplified in FIG. 4.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, the application 60 also provides auser-interactive interface 80 to allow the user to change some aspectsor settings of the application 60. For example, the user can select orchange the format and/or content of the lists 62 and 72, e.g., sequenceof the listing, number of lists to display on each page, and others. Theapplication 60 can include a built-in mechanism that plays or presentsthe content of the media object when the user selects one from the list.The application 60 can also interact with other applications 82 (e.g.,web browser, media player, and others) within the application 28 (FIG.2) on the mobile device 30, using application programming interface(API) calls 84. When the user selects a media object of interest fromthe list 62 (or from the file system using a native file browser), anappropriate application external to the application 60 is launched torender the locally stored or remotely stored media, for example,baseball live show 86 of FIG. 5.

Referring to FIG. 6, the application 60 of FIG. 3 can also be presentedusing user-friendly application icons 102 and 104 on a user interface106 of a mobile device 108 (particularly when the user interface 106 issufficiently large, such as a screen of computer) to the user so thatthe user can easily use the application. For example, the media objectsfrom different sources are categorized and each category 110 is listedgraphically with more description than in the sample list 62 of FIG. 4.The application 60 also provides a search function 112 on the userinterface 106 to facilitate the user selection of the media objects ofinterest.

Other implementations are also within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving at a mobile deviceand storing on the mobile device, without requiring a user of the mobiledevice to be aware of the receipt or storage, media objects for playingon the mobile device, and for each of at least some of the media objectsthat have been received and stored, presenting a notification on themobile device indicating that the media object is available to beplayed, the notification being distinct from the media object, thenotification being presented without necessarily presenting the mediaobject at the time of the notification, the notification including afeature that enables a user to take an action with respect to thenotification.
 2. The method of claim 1 in which the notificationincludes at least one interactive control that can be invoked by theuser to take the action with respect to the notification.
 3. The methodof claim 1 in which the action to be taken comprises indicating that thepresentation of the media object should begin.
 4. The method of claim 1in which the action to be taken comprises indicating that thenotification should be presented at a future time.
 5. The method ofclaim 1 in which the action to be taken comprises indicating that thenotification should not be presented again.
 6. The method of claim 1 inwhich the action to be taken comprises confirming payment for thepresentation of the media object.
 7. The method of claim 1 in which thenotification is generated at the mobile device.
 8. The method of claim 1in which the notification is received from a server at the mobile devicefor presentation.
 9. The method of claim 1 in which the notificationincludes information that describes the media object.
 10. The method ofclaim 1 including enabling the user to preselect a form of thenotification to be presented.
 11. The method of claim 1 includingenabling the user to select a feature of the notification to bepresented.
 12. The method of claim 1 in which presenting thenotification includes indicating that the media object is not permittedto be played until a time later than when it is first available.
 13. Themethod of claim 1 in which presenting the notification includesindicating that the media object is not permitted to be played after theexpiration time.
 14. The method of claim 1 in which presenting thenotification includes incorporating other notifications related to othermedia objects at the same time.
 15. The method of claim 14 comprisingenabling or requiring the user to dismiss all of the notificationsbefore invoking any other function of the mobile device.
 16. The methodof claim 1 comprising dismissing a notification that is being presentedin connection with presenting of another notification.
 17. The method ofclaim 1 comprising ending the presentation of the notification after acertain amount of time has passed.
 18. The method of claim 1 comprisingenabling a user of the mobile device to indicate types or sizes or mediaof media objects for which the user would like to receive notifications.19. The method of claim 1 comprising enabling a user to control anaudible feature of the notification.
 20. The method of claim 1 in whichthe receiving of the media object at the mobile device occursautomatically without an action by the user.
 21. The method of claim 1comprising enabling the user to select from a displayed list ofavailable media objects a media object to be played.
 22. The method ofclaim 1 in which presenting the notification includes presentingadvertising to the user.
 23. The method of claim 1 in which thenotification is presented immediately after the media object has beenreceived and stored.
 24. The method of claim 1 in which presentation ofthe notification is delayed until several notifications are ready forpresentation.
 25. The method of claim 1 in which the media object has anexpiration time and the time when the notification is presented is basedon the expiration time.
 26. The method of claim 25 in which thenotification is presented when the expiration time is approaching orimminent.
 27. The method of claim 1 in which the notification alerts theuser about circumstances under which the media object can be presented.28. The method of claim 1 in which the notification presents informationabout the media object including at least one of the following: name,title, duration, source, time of availability, cost, advertising, andthumbnail image.
 29. The method of claim 1 in which the notification ispresented with respect to a media object that is episodic.
 30. A methodcomprising at a time when a media object that has been downloaded to amobile device is available for playing on the mobile device, presentingat the mobile device a notification that is distinct from the mediaobject and indicates the availability of the media object for playing,the presentation of the media object having a relationship to thepresentation of the notification that is controlled by a user of themobile device by interaction with the notification.